The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-04-29

| onu tuoy Will Rit you tucy Nluu8 0Ou 10
this severe discipline OF their carly clerkship
. You can afford to endure tho wildernsa
march II II Is going to end In tho vineyard
and orchards OF tho promised land, But yov
saw; "Will tho womanly clerks In our store
have promotion!" Yes Time IL cominl
when women will be AZ we'll paid for thei
toll In mercantile circles as men are now pale
, for their toll limo Is coming when woman
will be allowed to do anything she can d.
well. It Is only little while ago wheI
, women know nothing of telcgraphy, and they
were kept out OF great many commercial
circles where they nre now welcome; and thu
} time will go on until the woman who at ont
counter In a store sells $4,000 worth Of good,
In a year will get as high salary as the mar
who at the other counter of the same store
sells $4,000 worth Of goods All honor tc
lydia, the Christian saleswoman. And In
passing, i may as well say that you mer.
chants who have female clerks In your stores
ought to treat them with great courtesy and
kindness. When they are not positively On
gagged, lot them sit down. In England and
the United States physicians have protested
against the habit Of compelling tho womanly
clerks in the stores to stand Therefore,
add to the protest Of physicians the protest Of
the Christian church, and in the name of
good health, and that God who has made the
womanly constitution moro delicate than
mans, demand that you let her sit down.
The second counsel have to give to the
clerks who are hero to-day is that you seek
out what are tho lawful regulations of your
establishment, and then submit to them
Every well ordered house has its usages. In
military life, on ships deck, in commercial
| life, there must be order and discipline
Those people who do not learn how to obey
will never know how to command. will
tell you what young man will reach ruin,
financial and moral; it is the young man who
| thrusts his thumb into his vest and says:
"Nobody shall dictate to me; am my own
master; I will not submit to the regulations
of this house." Between an establishment in
which all the employees are under thorough
discipline and the establishment in which the
employees do about as they choose is the
difference between success and failure-be-
tween rapid accumulation and utter bank
ruptcy. DO not come to the store ten minutes
after the time. Be there within two seconds
after. Do not think anything too insignifi-
cant to do we'll Do not say, cts only just
once" From the most important transaction
i'll commerce down to the particular style in
which you tie string around bundle, obey
orders. Do not get easily disguised While
Others in the store mey lounge, or fret, or
complain, you go with ready hands and
cheerful face and contented spirit to your
work. When the bugle sounds, the good
soldier asks no questions, but shoulders his
knapsack. fills his canteen and listens for the
command of "March!" Do not get the idea
that your interests and those of your EN-
ployer are antagonistic. His success will be
your honor. His embarrassment will be your
dismay. Expose none Of the frailties of the
firm. Tell no store secrets. Do not blab.
Rebuff those persons who come to find out
from clerks what ought never be known out
side the store. Do not be among those young
men who take on a mysterious air when
something is said against the firm that en-
ploys them, as much as to say: u could tell
you some things If would, but won't"
Do not be among those who imagine they can
build themselves up by pulling somebody else
down. Be not ashamed to be subaltern.
Again I counsel clerks in this house to
search out what are the unlawful and dishon-
est demands Of an establishment and resist
them. In the 5000 years that have passed
there has never been an occasion when it was
ones duty to sin against God. 1t is never
right to do wrong. II the head mon of the
firm expect Of you dishonesty, disappoint
them. "Oh,' you say, II should lose my
place then" Better lose your place than lose
your soul. But you will not lose your place.
Christian heroism is always honored. You
60 to the head men of your store and say:
"Sir, want to serve you; want to oblige |
you; it is from no lack of industry on my
part, but this thing seems to me to be wrong,
and it is sin against my conscience; it is a
sin against God, and beg you, sir,Sto excuse
me-" He may flush up and swear, but he will |
cool down and he will have more admiration |
for you than for those who submit to his evil |
dictation; and while they sink you will rise.
Do not because of seeming temporary ad
vantage, give up your character, young man. |
Under God that is the only thing you have !
to build on. Give up that, you give up
everything. That employer asks young |
man TO hurt himself for time and for eter-
nifty who expects him to make q wrong entry |
or change an invoice, or say goods cost SO
much when they cost less; or impose upon
the verdancy of a customer or misrepresent
a STYLE of fabric. How dare he demand of
you anything SO insolenta
There is one style of temptation that comes
on a great many of our clerks, and that is
upon those who are engaged in what is called
Now, that occupation is just
as honorable as any other, If it be conducted
in accord with ones conscience. In this day.
when there are so many rivalfies in business,
all our commercial establishments ought to
have men abroad who are seeking out for op-
portunities Of merchandise There can be no
objection to that. But there are protested
Christian merchants in the week night prayer
meeting who have clerks abroad in New
York conducting merchants of Cincinnati
and Chicago and St. Louis through the de-
baucheries Of the great town in order to
secure the custom for the store TheTe are in
stores in New York and Brooklyn drawers in
which there.are kept moneys WHICH the clerks
are to go to and get whatever they want to
conduct these people through the designations
Of the city. The head men of the firm wink
at it, and in some places actually demand it
-professed Christian merchants. One would
think that the prayer would freeze on their
lips and they would fall back dead at the
sound of their own song. What chance is
there for young men when commercial es-
expect such things Of thema
Among all things Internal, l pronounce that
the most 6amnable Young man, how will
that firm treat you when you are utterly de-
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